Method of obtaining metal from ore



S. G. MUSSER. METHOD or OBTAINING METAL FROM ORE.

APPLICATION flLED JAN H). 1.918. RENEWED MAY I3, X920. 1,365,844.

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METHOD OF OBTAINING METAL FROM ORE. APPLICATION FILED JAN.19,1918-RENEWED MAY I3,1 920. 1,365,844, Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

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PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL G. MUSSER, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

METHOD OF OBTAINING METAL FROM ORE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

Original application filed July 19, 1917, Serial No. 181,474. Dividedand this application filed January 19, 1918, Serial No. 212,613. RenewedMay 13, 1920. Serial No. 381,195.

1 all 10 [tom it may concern:

lie it known that I, SAMUEL G. Mussnn, a citizen oi the United States,residing at TJUS Angcles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Method of Obtaining Metalfrom Ure, of whichthe following is a speci-- Another object is tominimize internal pressures so as to reduce the liability to deakage ofthe mercury through the various joints between the dilferent parts ofthe apparatus employed.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the subjoined detaildescription.

This is a division of my copending application for patent for centrifual amalga mator, filed uly 19, 1917, Sr. a. 181,411. The accompanyingdrawings illustrate a type of machine whereby the new method iseffected.

Figure l is an elevation from-the discharge side partly in vertical midsection of the amalgamator.

Fig. 2 is a plan section on line indicated Fig. is a plan section on theirregular line indicated by afi-w, Fig. 1

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail of a portion of the shell showing thedischarge pipe in discharge position.

In the machine illustrated there is provided a base member 1 which maybe chambered at 2, the intermediate portion of said member having ahelical passage 3, and there being a discharge opening 4 at the lowerend of the passage.

Mounted on the base member 1 is a standard comprising legs 5 fastened bycap screws 6 or. equivalents to the top of the base member. The upperends of the legs 5 are joined together to form a boss 7 and passingthrough said boss is a tubular vertical intake member 8. The tubularintake member 8 is in the form of a stationary hollow stud shaftprovided with an enlarged the shoulders 24 and 25.

1 2S and an intermediate wall 29.

hearing portion 9 to journal thereon a rotative sleeve 10. Any suitablepacking is provided adjacent the stationary bearing portion 9 and thesleeve 10 to prevent or minimize leakage of material between saidmembers. In this instance the packing is formed of one or more cups 111of leather or other suitable material alternatively arranged withspacing collars 12, said cups and collars being retained in position bya shoulder 13 terminating the upper end of the bearing portion 9 and bya plug L1 lastened by a key 15 or equivalent to the tubu lar member 8.

The sleeve 10 is fastened by cap screws 16 or equivalent to a hollowcone-shaped member 17 which in turn is fastened by cap screws 18 orequivalent to the upper end of a shell 19 which is provided with anannular passage extending in an outer portion 20 from near the upper endof the shell to near the lower end thereof, thence downwardly andinwardly in an inclined portion 21, thence upwardly and inwardly in acurved portion 22, thence upwardly in an intermediate portion 23. Theupper end 01 the passage portion 20 terminates in a shoulder 2+1 and theupper end of the inclined portion 21 terminates in an annular shoulder25 and when the machine is in operation the mercur not shown, occupiesthat portion 20 of the passage extending between The portion 20 of thepassage is formed between the outer wall 26 of the shell and anintermediate wall 27 1 of said shell, and the passage portions 22, 23are formed between an intermediate wall. The in termediate walls 28 and29 need. not be, and preferably are not, as long as the interme diatewall 27. The intermediate wall 27 extends upwardly and inwardly in acurved portion 30 which is spaced from the conical member 17 to form anupward extension of the passage portion 20. The curved portion 30 joinsa cover portion 31 which is fastened by cap screws 32 or equivalents toa collar 33 which is mounted on the upper portion of and rotates with avertical central shaft 3 1.

Extending downward from the collar 33 is a tubular member 85 forming aninner wall of the shell 19 provided with an annular lip 36 which meetsthe upper portion of the intermediate wall 28 to form the joint other.

37. The lower portion of the tubular member 35 forms the inner wall of apassage portion 38,- the outer wall of said passage portion being formedby the inner wall 29. From the foregoing it is clear that there is anannular passage leading downwardly from the intake member 8 to near thebottom of the shell 19, thence upwardly and inwardly and thencedownwardly. It is also clear that the walls 27, 28 overlap the wall 29and are inserted between the walls 26, 29. The passage portion 38terminates at its lower end in downwardly and outwardlyperipherally-discharging nozzles 39 which are gradually reducedoutwardly and which are arranged to discharge in a direction opposite tothe direction of rotation indicated by the arrow 7), Fig. 3, so thatcentrifugal action will to a greater or less degree tend to cause flowof the ore through the machine. Under some conditions it may beadvisable to extend the nozzles 39 to increase the centrifugaldischarging action and for that purpose nozzle extensions 40 may beprovided as shown in the drawings, said nozzle extensions being fastenedby cap screws 41 or equivalent to the outer wall of the shell 19 so thatthe bores of the nozzles and nozzle extensions aline with one an- It isunderstood that this machine will function without the nozzle extensions40 if so desired.

The passage portion 20 is of slightly less diameter at its lower endthan at its upper end and the passage portion 23 is of slightly lessdiameter at its upper end than at its lower end. Likewise the passageportion 38 is of less diameter at its upper end than at its lower end.This is for maximizing conservation of the mercury and facilitating theflow of the metalliferous ore through the passage.

The lower end of the shaft 34 is supported in a step-bearing 41 which isfastened by cap screws 42 or equivalent to the base member 1. The shaft34 is provided with a pulley 43 just above the step-bearing 41, and theupper portion of the shaft is journaled just beneath the collar 33 at 44in a tubular upwardly extending portion 45 of the base, there being aclearance between said tubular member and the tubular member 35.

At the lowest point in the passage portion 22 is an inwardly reducedclean-out port or ports 46 in which fits a tapered plug or plugs 47having a head or heads 48 suitable for turning by a wrench, not shown.The plug is provided with an inwardly extending internally threadedsleeve 49 adapted to engage the externally screw-threaded reducedportion 50 of nipple which also comprises an enlarged externallyscrew-threaded portion 51. The bore of the nipple forms the outerportion of the port 46.

In the practice of the method with the machine above described, thedesired amount of mercury will be run into the passage portion 20 of themachine and power will be applied to the pulley 43 to rotate the collarand the parts connected with said collar, thus causing the mercury, notshown, to form an annular body in the passage portion 20 be tween theshoulders 24, 25. The crushed metalliferous ore to be amalgamated willbe introduced under suitable pressure through the intake member 8 intothe passage portion 20 and centrifugal action will cause the heavierparticles, which of course are the metal particles in the ore, to occupythe peripheral portion of the tubular column of downwardly moving ore.These metal particles will be forced against the inner face of themercury body and into said body in a manner well understood in the artpertaining to centrifugal amalgamation and amalgamation of the metalparticles will take place, and the remaining material or tailings willflow through the passage portions 22, 23 and 38 to the nozzles 39 andwill be forced outwardly from said nozzles into the helical passage 3 ofthe base 1. The force of discharge of the material from the nozzles 39is sufficient to cause the material to flow from the helical passage 3through the discharge opening 4.

hen it becomes necessary or desirable to remove the amalgam from themachine, operation of the machine will be stopped. whereupon the amalgamwill flow into the lower portions of the passage portions 20 and 22.Pipes indicated in broken lines at a Fig. 1, will be screw-threaded ontothe en larged portion of the nipples 51, and a suitable wrench, notshown, will be inserted in the pipes to engage the heads 48 of theplugs. Turning of the wrench will unscrew the plugs and the amalgam willflow through the ports 46 into the pipes at and thence into a suitablecontainer, not shown, placed at the discharge ends of said pipes (1..

It is noted that the centrifugal action aiding in the discharge of thetailings from the shell is of advantage for the reason that the lowerend of the passage in the shell is thereby cleared of the tailings sothat the pressure of the incoming ore will not cause the particles ofthe ore to become too closely packed in the passage. It is readily seenthat owing to the centrifugal action tending to keep clear the lower endof the passage the pressure required to force the ore through themachine is less on a given character of ore than if the centrifugaldischarg ing action were not provided for. By having less pressures, itis clear that leakage of the material past the packing cups 11. andthrough the various joints of the shell is minimized and is, in fact,practically eliminated.

From the foregoing it is clear that the centrifugal act-ion of thetailings in the dis charge end of the shell passage is sufficient toprevent clogging of the passage even though the force of the ore feed atthe feed end of the passage be insufficient of itself to cause the oreto flow through the machine at a desirable rate of speed. The advantageof this is that pressures inside of the shell may be minimized so as tominimize leakage past the packing 11 and through the joint of thevarious sections of the shell, thus the centrifugal action of the hollowrotating column of ore is utilized to aid in moving the column of orethrough and in contact with a hollow body of mercury.

I claim:

1.. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in causingthe centrifugal action of a hollow rotating column of ore to move saidcolumn through and in contact with a hollow body of mercury, anddischarging the tailings in a direction opposite to the direction ofrotation so as to pre vent too close packing of the particles of ore inthe column.

2. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in causing thecentrifugal action of a hollow rotating column of ore to aid in movingthe column of ore through and in contact with a hollow body of mercury,and discharging the tailings in a direction opposite to the direction ofrotation so as to prevent too close packing of the particles of ore inthe column.

3. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in applyingpressiu'e behind a hollow rotating column of ore to move said columnthrough and in contact with a hollow body of mercury, utilizing thecentrifugal action of said rotating column to aid in moving the columnof ore through said body of mercury, and discharging the tailing-s in adirection opposite to the direction of rotation so as to prevent tooclose packing of the particles of ore in the column.

4:. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in causingthe discharge of tailings from a hollow rotating column of ore in adirection opposite to that of rotation to prevent too close packing ofthe particles of ore in the column, and effecting amalgamation of themetal at the periphery of the column.

5. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in applyingpressure hehind a hollow rotating column of ore to aid in moving saidcolumn through and in con tact with a hollow amalgamating body, thencedownwardly, and dscharging the tailings in a direction opposite to thedirection of rotation so as to prevent too close packing of theparticles of ore in the column 6. The method of obtaining metal fromore, which consists in applying pressure hehind a hollow rotating columnof ore to aid in moving said column through and in corn tact with ahollow amz'ilgamating body, thence inwardly, and disclni-rging thetailings in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation. so as toprevent too close packing of the particles of ore in the column.

7. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in applyingpressure behind a hollow rotating column of ore to aid in moving saidcolumn through and in contact with a hollow amalgamating body, thencedownwardly, utilizing the centrifugal action of said rotating column toaid in moving the column of ore through said amalgamating body, anddischarging the tailings in a direction opposite to the direction ofrotation so as to prevent too close packing of the particles of ore inthe column.

8. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in applyingpressure behind a hollow rotating column of ore to aid in moving saidcolumn through and in coir tact with a hollow amalgamating body, thenceinwardly, utilizing the centrifugal action of said rotating column toaid in moving the column of ore through said amalgamating body, anddischarging the tailings in a direction opposite to the direction ofrota tion so as to prevent too close packing of the particles of ore inthe column.

9. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in applyingpressure hehind a hollow rotating column of ore to aid in moving saidcolumn through and in contact with a hollow amalgamating body, thencedownwardly, thence inwardly, and discharging the tailings in a directionopposite to the direction of rotation so as to prevent too close packingof the particles of ore in the column.

10. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in applyingpressure behind a hollow rotating column of ore to aid in moving saidcolumn through and in contact with a hollow amalgamating body, thencedownwardly, thence upwardly, and discharging the tailings in a directionopposite to the direction of rotation so as to prevent too close packingof the particles of ore in the column.

11. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in applyingpressure behind a hollow rotating column of ore to aid in moving saidcolumn through and in contact with a hollow amalgamating body, thencedownwardly, thence inwardly and upwardly, and discharging the tailingsin a direction opposite to the direction of rotation so as to preventtoo close packing of the particles of ore in the column.

12. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in applyingpressure behind a hollow rotating column of ore to aid in moving saidcolumn through and in contact with a hollow amalgamating body,

thence inwardly, thence upwardly, and discharging the tailing-s in adirection opposite to the direction of rotation so as to prevent tooclose packing of the particles of ore in the column.

18. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in applyingpressure behind a hollow rotating column of ore to aid in moving saidcolumn through and in contact wit-h a hollow amalgamatingbody, thenceinwardly, thence inwardly and up wardly, and discharging the tailings ina direction opposite to the direction of rotation so as to prevent tooclose packing of the particles of ore in the column.

14. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in applyingpressure hehind a hollow rotating column oi ore to aid in moving saidcolumn through and in contact with a hollow amalgamating body, thencedownwardly, thence inwardly, utilizing the centrifugal action or" saidrotating column to aid in moving the column of ore through saidamalgamating body, and discharging the tailings in a direction oppositeto the direction of rotation so as to prevent too close packing of theparticles of ore in the column.

15. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in applyingpressure behind a hollow rotating column of ore to aid in moving saidcolumn through and in contact with a hollow amalgamating body, thencedownwardly, thence upwardly, utilizing the centrifugal action of saidrotating column to aid in moving the column of ore through saidamalgamating body, and dis-- charging the tailings in a directionopposite to the direction of rotation so as to prevent too close packingof the particles of ore in the column.

16. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in applyingpressure llC hind a hollow rotating column oi ore to aid in moving saidcolumn through and in contact with a hollow amalgamating body, thencedownwardly, thence inwardly and upwardly, utilizing the centrifugal.action of said rotating column to aid in moving the column of orethrough said amalgamating body, and discharging the tailings in adirection opposite to the direction of rotation so as to preventtooclose packing of the particles of ore in the column.

17. The method of obtaining metal from ore, which consists in applyingpressure hehind av hollow rotating column of ore to aid in moving saidcolumn through and in contact with hollow amalgamating body, thenceinwardly, thence upwardly, utiliiaing the centrifugal action of saidrotating column to aid in moving the column oi ore through saidamalgamatii'ig body, and discharging the tailings in a directionopposite to the direction of rotation so as to prevent too close packingof the particles oi ore in the column. Signed at Los Angeles,California. this 9th day of January, 1918.

SABIUEL G. BH SSER. Witnesses Gnonon H. HrLns, L. BELLE WEAVER.

